What is a Wiki?

Posted At : May 21, 2008 9:48 PM | Posted By : Scott Brandon
Related Categories: Social Media
A wiki is a Web page that supports user-generated content by allowing all site visitors the opportunity to add, delete or revise information on the site. The most well known example of a wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that was entirely comprised of Internet users like you and me adding information to the site.

Wikis are a very powerful marketing tool. They are extremely user-friendly, both on the front- and back-ends; and they are quite affordable. Internet users enjoy knowing they have the power to control a site's content – hence the success of MySpace and FaceBook.

How can a wiki work for you? Let's say you own a home repair store. Your Web site is a valuable tool for you but you want to take it one step further – so you develop a home repair wiki. You send an eblast out to your database (you sort of need a database at the beginning for this to work – so start building an email database) alerting them to the fact that you have developed this home repair wiki and ask them to visit the wiki to help populate the site. They visit the site and post information on home repair tips and advice. With a little marketing, your wiki becomes the Wikipedia of home repair and soon do-it-yourself novices from around the country are checking out your wiki for advice. An instant marketing success story.

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Rise of the Blogger

Posted At : May 6, 2008 3:29 PM | Posted By : Scott Brandon
Related Categories: Social Media
There was once a time when a blog was, simply put, an online diary for ordinary people to express their thoughts, feelings and events in their daily lives. Today, blogs are widely read and can greatly impact the success or demise of a company. In 2005, only six percent of Americans read blogs, that number jumped to 40% in 2006. And in 2007, at least one blog was created every second of the day. Obviously, blogs are important, and they are taking the Internet by storm. It is even said that having your company mentioned in a blog is far more impactful then being mentioned in a high-profile feature story in a large circulation publication.

So who writes these blogs? There are several types of bloggers: those that simply blog to journal their daily life experiences; CEOs and corporate executives who blog to discuss their industry and to position themselves as experts in their fields; and those who report the news on their blogs - whether it be breaking news, feature stories or gossip news.

Why are blogs important? People value other people's opinions and outlooks – hence the success of tripadvisor.com and epinions.com. Bloggers are revered as experts in their fields which is why we encourage all of our clients to establish blogs of their own. Authoring a blog allows you to not only promote your expertise in a certain field but to promote your company as well. More and more, national morning shows and large circulation publications are calling upon popular bloggers to serve as experts in their features. In addition to writing your own blog, it is also imperative to initiate an interactive public relations program. Interactive public relations professionals can draft social media news releases and distribute them to a database of bloggers to encourage these bloggers to include information about your company in upcoming blog features.

Blogging is definitely the wave of the future – and a very important part of the marketing mix. Bloggers are part of what Joseph Jaffe calls "Prosumers"- the new merchants of conversation. As marketers, we can't ignore their importance any longer and brands must respect their power and influence.

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